Too much food!

[Loriblue]

Hello again...I just made an induction-friendly salad mostly for the carbs, but it was way too much food for me. Here is what I made (and I went by ounces, not just trying to fill up the measuring cup):

romaine (1/2 cup) 0.2, 4 cals

shrooms (1/2 cup) 1.2, 9 cals

cucumber (1/2 cup) 1.0, 7 cals

tomato (1/2) 2.1 or 6 cherry 2.8, 11 cals

feta cheese (1 oz) 1.2, 75 cals

ranch (2 tbs) 1.4, 145 cals

bacon bits (1/12 jar) 25 cals

Any ideas on how to pack more net carbs into a smaller amount of food for lunch? Thanks!

[liv]

You do not really have to worry about net carbs like this. The rule is to eat only 3 cups of veggies - and whatever that works out to in carbs is perfectly fine.

You should spread these 3 cups out over the whole day and not eat them all at one meal btw

[Loriblue]

Thank you for the reply! And am I correct in assuming that you are supposed to go by ounces, not by how much you can stuff into a half a cup?

[liv]

No you are supposed to go by cups. And you do not stuff the cups - you loosely pack.
I hope that helps.

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by Loriblue

bacon bits (1/12 jar) 25 cals

Check the ingredients in these. They could contain non-Induction stuff.

And I hope you don't worry about calories and you just wrote them for fun in your post...

Any ideas on how to pack more net carbs into a smaller amount of food for lunch? Thanks!

One possibility is to cook your veggies. Some of them will (significantly) reduce volume when cooked. But remember you should measure them raw, so that, for example, you use 1 cup of raw spinach, not 1 cup of cooked spinach.

Veggies on the "Other Vegetables" list are often higher in carbs. They are limited to 1 cup per day.

However, as Liv said and I think I mentioned in another thread of yours (unless I'm confusing you with someone else), you do not have to aim for 12-15 net carbs of veggies, nor for 20 net carbs per day.

Try to have some protein with your meal or you will likely get hungry not long after you ate. Being hungry an hour or so after your meal could be caused by not eating enough protein at that meal. We also need more protein on Atkins than on a non-ketogenic diet, because part of the protein is used to make glucose for some parts of your brain, retina, red blood cells. Your protein intake should be around 30% of the total calories.

By the way, not consuming enough calories can slow down your metabolism and mess up your thyroid hormones. So make sure you are giving your body the nutrition it needs. Don't refrain from eating more foods on days when you are hungrier just because you are scared of what another 300 or 600 calories might do to your weight loss. If your body tells you "I'm hungry" and it's real hunger, not just psychological tricks played on you by your brain, then it's better to eat something.